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Hank Schrader
Henry R. "Hank" Schrader is a character in the American television drama series Breaking Bad on AMC. He is portrayed by Dean Norris and was created by series creator Vince Gilligan. Character biography Background Hank was described as a jock in high school, and had a fixation on sport cars. His high energy and boisterous nature eventually led him to pursue a living in the DEA, where he would gradually work through the ranks to become supervisor of all investigations handled by his Albuquerque office, under the watchful eye of ASAC George Merkert. Underneath his outward 'tough as nails' demeanor, he is shown to be a tremendously flawed individual, struggling with his own vulnerabilities; he had cold feet when it came to marrying his wife, Marie, as well as suffering from PTSD and an explosive temper. He often attempts to hide these vulnerabilities, however, for fear of having his public image weakened. Nevertheless, he is shown to be a fiercely noble man, willing to risk everything if it means being morally correct. Season One He is introduced as Walter White's boisterous brother-in-law and Marie Schrader's devoted husband. He is first seen during Walt's fiftieth birthday party, where the attendees watch a news report covering Hank's involvement in a local methamphetamine bust. Walt takes up Hank's offer to join another meth bust as a ride-a-long, and is allowed to inspect the meth lab's equipment. This enables Walt to enter the production side of Albuquerque's drug trade, using his scientific knowledge to cook chemically pure meth. As Walt establishes his product in local drug scene, he begins using the pseudonym "Heisenberg". Hank begins investigating Heisenberg, completely unaware that he is actually searching for his own brother-in-law. Although loutish and obstreperous, he's shown to be competent at his job and cares about Walter and his family. He is protective of Walter Jr when it was assumed the child was using drugs, taking it upon himself to try to convince his nephew of the dangers of it. Season Two When Walter goes missing, he along with the rest of the family attempts to find him. During his search process, he's ultimately (much to his own surprise) led to the hideout of drug baron Tuco, and kills him in self-defense when the man opens fire. This later earns him a promotion at the office and, eventually, a transfer to El Paso where he would be working among higher ranked DEA agents within an area of higher danger. Having been used to his first-base New Mexico job for so long, he begins to struggle with his own insecurities, feeling inferior to his fellow co-workers and greatly missing the hominess of the original office. This begins to trigger several panic attacks, which Hank struggles to keep from affecting his work. While in El Paso, Hank is with a group of fellow DEA agents, preparing to meet an informant, when they find a tortoise with the informant's severed head atop its shell, the words "HOLA DEA" crudely painted on it. This triggers one of Hank's panic attacks, and results in him fleeing to his car to hide the embarrassment of his inner problems from his colleagues. Removing the informant's head from the tortoise shell triggers a nasty explosion, killing and wounding the DEA agents who were nearby. Although physically unharmed, this previous incident leaves Hank massively traumatized and results in him giving up the promotion and convincing his superiors to move him back into his home office in New Mexico. He vows from then on out never to return to El Paso. Season Three The promotion to El Paso ultimately ends up going to his close friend and partner, Steven Gomez. Nagged by feelings of inadequacy, Hank becomes obsessed with the Heisenberg case, and overly aggressive on the job, starting a fight with two men in a bar whom he suspects of dealing drugs. A call telling him that Marie was in a car accident forced him to abandon pursuit of Jesse's RV, a huge clue in the case. Discovering that the call was a hoax, (intended to lead him away from the RV), he violently attacks Jesse, resulting in his suspension from the DEA. Hank finally opens up to Marie and reveals his panic attacks, but Jesse ends up not pressing charges because Walter agrees to a 50-50 deal working in Gus's mega-lab for millions each. Unknown to him, the Cousins—twin brothers and hitmen from Mexico—have been following him, planning to avenge Tuco's death. An anonymous caller warns Hank about the hit one minute beforehand, just as he returns to his car in a shopping center parking lot. Because he is suspended, Hank is unarmed. He is shot multiple times, but manages to kill one of the Cousins and severely injures the other, who on Gus's orders is later murdered by Mike while in the hospital. Hank is left unable to walk by the shooting and doctors are unsure if he will be left paraplegic. Marie, however, insists on putting Hank into expensive physical therapy. When told that insurance won't cover the doctors Marie chooses, Skyler and Walter agree to pay for it (unbeknownst to Hank). When Marie suggests taking care of Hank at home, Hank refuses, saying that he won't go home until he can walk again. Marie makes a bet that he can still get an erection, and if he does, he has to return home. She then proceeds to put her hand under his sheets and begins to give him a hand job. In the next scene, the camera cuts to Hank looking annoyed as Marie triumphantly wheels him out of the hospital. Season Four During his recovery, Hank takes up amateur geology. He becomes uncharacteristically harsh towards Marie, feeling despondent at becoming so dependent on her. Recently, he has been approached by the Albuquerque Police Department to offer his insights into the shooting of Gale Boetticher, including a review of the man's lab notebook. He eventually formulates a theory that Gale was the elusive Heisenberg, and turns the evidence back over to the APD. However, at a celebratory dinner with Walter and his family congratulating their acquisition of a car wash, Hank discusses his conclusions about Gale being a cooking genius, prompting Walter to arrogantly claim that he doubts that Gale was doing anything more than copying the work of a greater meth cook. Suspicions aroused, he has the APD send over the evidence once more, this time noticing that Gale, a vegan and consumer of organic food, had a napkin from Los Pollos Hermanos (Gus's fast food joint), and questions why a vegan would eat fried chicken. He procures a fingerprint from Gus while eating with Walt Jr. at one of Gus's restaurants and it matches a fingerprint found in Gale's apartment. When asked about this, Gus comes up with an alibi to explain being at Gale's place, but Hank remains suspicious. He even has Walt drive him to the restaurant and, when there, tells the alarmed Walt to place a tracking device on Gus's car (which Gus later removes). After the tracking device revealed nothing about the whereabouts of Gus, Hank comes up with a new plan. A few days later, Hank brings up that he knows about the laundry facility owned by the parent company of Pollos Hermanos, and wants to check it out. To deflect Hank's investigation, Walt intentionally gets them into a car crash on the way there, and the two receive minor injuries. Hank's later plans to investigate are cut short when he is placed under DEA protective custody, after Walt places a tip off — via Saul — of Gus's intentions to kill him. Hank then pushes Gomez to search the laundry facility, who fails to find anything majorly incriminating, despite a few minor intriguing details. Murders committed by Hank *'Tuco Salamanca': Shot in self defence. (2009) *'Marco Salamanca': Shot in the head in self defence. (2010) Category:Characters